A Matter of Trust
by Miss-Inquisitive-Sci-fi
Summary: During a shuttle crash Captain Pike is one of only 2 survivors. Injured and out of contact with the outside world tensions begin to boil over. If Pike wants to survive the night he must contend with: a prisoner who is desperate to escape, a gaping hole of mistrust, and damaging preconceptions that both sides are guilty of, not to mention their life-threatening injuries. Pike Whump.


**A/N - ****Oh look another Enterprise era angsty oneshot :D Someone really needs to stop me.**

* * *

Chris awoke with a gasp. His eyes shot open and he moaned loudly when blinding agony shot down his side, a fire like no other scorched across his legs and his head thudded so painfully that it forced him to close his eyes again. He focussed on breathing for a few stressful moments and tried to stamp down on the pain that was flaring up all over his body. With each passing second there was some new ache or bruise to catalogue, and after a minute of laying still he'd lost count on what parts of his body hurt. It would probably have been easier to list what didn't hurt.

A scraping sound caught his attention so against his better judgement Chris opened his eyes and tried to locate the source of the disturbance, and also figure out exactly where the hell he was and why everything hurt so damn much. He didn't have to look far; on his left and knelt a few metres away was a man. Pike blinked at the stranger, and at his strange surroundings. There was smoke, mechanical beeps, electrical sparks, chunks of broken glass, and torn metal; the farther his eyes travelled the more he realised that he was laying in what was left of a shuttle. The amount of damage to the shuttle and the stranger's face finally sparked a memory.

He had hitched a ride with the planet's security forces, one which was supposed to get him to the facility where he was needed. The shuttle had already been occupied with a prisoner and several guards. Somewhere over the forested part of the world electrical storms damaged one of the shuttle's wings. Chris remembered blaring alarms, shouts from the pilots to brace and then blinding agony when his head hit the seat in front so hard that it knocked him out cold.

Wait… This shuttle had been transporting a prisoner. Chris did the math and he matched the stranger's face to the prisoner he had seen cuffed earlier.

Pike had no idea why the man was wanted by the government, nor did he particularly care. Right now the most important thing was that he appeared to be on a crashed shuttle and he probably wasn't the only casualty. He tried to sit up which was a mistake, Chris groaned and gasped as he felt his ribs shift inside of him; he wrapped his arms around his sides in an effort to keep his insides from exploding.

His actions attracted the attention of the stranger. Chris heard him begin to mutter something, then there was a click and the sound of fidgeting. When Pike managed to open his eyes he locked eyes with the stranger and confirmed that this man had definitely been the prisoner in custody; that much was clear from the handcuffs that the man was currently shirking off.

_Where had he got the key?_

Chris' attention moved back to the man's face and he noticed that the prisoner was staring at him, looking like a frightened animal caught in the crosshairs of a gun. Chris also noticed a large amount of blood soaking through the man's shirt, there was enough for Pike's first aid training to kick in and tell him that the injury was serious. He forgot all about the circumstances of this predicament and rather stupidly his own injuries; Pike continued to rise and his forehead furrowed as he continued to notice blood seeping from the man's clothes.

His actions finally spurred the prisoner into action. He fumbled with something on the ground and started to stutter and point to Chris. "Stay there."

Pike ignored the warning and continued to get up, he wrapped his arms around his chest to keep his bones in place and winced when he finally managed to sit upright. The simple action caused his vision to blur dangerously, he clutched his head and moaned through the thudding of the drums. When he brought his hand away he felt something sticky and slick, he glanced at it and was bewildered to see that it was stained red.

He tossed the problem aside when he remembered why he'd tried to get up quickly in the first place; the stranger and his critical wound. Chris glanced over and almost fell over in shock when he saw a weapon pointing his way, held in the shaky hands of the stranger who was trembling all over.

Chris didn't know what to say so instead his mouth ended up hanging open in awe. He stayed where he sat and made sure not to make any sudden movements, he sat even stiller when he clocked that the phaser was set to kill.

The prisoner took a deep breath and somehow steadied the weapon; he repeated his command from earlier. "Don't move."

Pike didn't feel it necessary to point out that he already wasn't moving even though that smart-ass thought was running through his mind. He bit his tongue and just focussed on nodding at the man holding the lethal weapon. Chris noticed that his gesture didn't calm the stranger in the slightest, he still looked terrified and hadn't moved the weapon an inch.

Chris swallowed heavily and pointed to the gun. "Do you mind pointing that somewhere else? I'm not any threat to you."

His words snapped the stranger back into the present although he didn't look very happy with the suggestion, in fact he completely ignored Pike's request and kept the phaser pointed directly at his head. "You're Starfleet, you're on the other side."

Chris wasn't exactly sure what two sides the stranger was talking about but he didn't remember taking a side. The only thing that separated him from this man was the fact that the prisoner had been wearing handcuffs, and now he wasn't. Which brought him back to the question; where did the prisoner get the key from? The logical conclusion would be from one of his chaperones but that begged the question: Where the hell were they?

Pike glanced around the dark space and noticed half the power seemed to be out, the lights were flickering and cables were sparking which gave the place an eerie atmosphere. It made it difficult to see too much of anything, but he thought he could make out two bodies slumped near the front of the wrecked shuttle. Well he assumed it was the front, but with the amount of damage he couldn't be certain which part of the ship was what anymore.

"We need to check on the others." Pike muttered absently and renewed his efforts to try and get up, that was until a phaser blast landed right next to his hand which had him flinch back in panic.

"I said don't move!" The stranger yelled, his voice shaking like he was the one who'd just had a lethal phaser blast fired at him.

Chris stared at the smoking hole by his hand and couldn't find the will to look away from something which had come so close to maiming him, perhaps even fatally. He blinked stupidly and his mouth opened and closed a few times as he struggled to come to terms with what had just happened, time slowed and the distracting sounds were drowned out. He'd nearly been shot by a terrified man waving a lethal phaser around, and he hadn't taken his situation seriously enough. A jolt of fear brought him back into the present and time returned to normal all at once, the sounds of the ruined shuttle returning including the shouts of the man who was yelling the same instruction over and over.

Chris glanced towards the stranger and saw that he was loosing his cool, and that his finger was itching towards the trigger again. Pike held his hands up quickly and tried to placate the petrified gunman. "Okay, okay. I hear you just don't shoot. I'm unarmed."

He made sure to add that last bit on and tried to look as least-threatening as he could manage, god knew why the man thought he was dangerous when the stranger was the one with the weapon; the stolen guard's weapon. Even though Chris didn't want to be shot he couldn't just sit here whilst there were potential survivors bleeding out somewhere, he wasn't in a great state himself but he was conscious and fairly certain his injuries weren't life-threatening. Frankly that fact was a miracle given the state of the crashed shuttle.

Pike took a deep breath and kept very still as he addressed the gunman in a shaky voice. "Look I don't want to fight you and I'm not on any side okay? All I want to do right now is focus on helping people who need help, there's first aid kits around and-"

"They're dead."

The gunman's interruption stopped Chris' plea in its tracks. He glanced over at the slumped bodies and had to admit they were still, but surely everyone couldn't be dead?

"Are you sure? There were 4 other people on this shuttle. I could get up and check-"

"No, you're not going anywhere." The gunman snapped. "And yes I'm sure, I checked everyone when I first came to."

Chris would rather check for himself but clearly that wasn't going to happen anytime soon, not with the paranoid nature of the prisoner. So he ended up being forced to take the man at his word, and he settled back down a little to show he wasn't planning on standing. Honestly with how painful everything was he was sure he had to have at least a few broken bones, so he probably couldn't have gotten up anyway.

The stranger glanced around the space anxiously, he didn't keep his eyes off of Chris for more than a few seconds showing just how paranoid he was. Worryingly his eyes flicked from the abandoned handcuffs on the floor and then over to Pike a few times.

He came to a decision and Pike's heart dropped when the gunman picked up the handcuffs and tossed them his way, whilst pointing to a metal hand rail with the phaser. "Cuff yourself to that, both hands." He added as an afterthought.

Chris glared down at the offending handcuffs and wondered where the hell everything had gone so wrong, this situation was seriously spiralling out of control and he needed to get things back on track before things got worse. He swallowed nervously and flicked his gaze up to the gunman who was waiting impatiently, the slight twitch in his right eye giving him away.

"If I do that then who's going to help you?" Chris nodded his head towards the bloody injury that the gunman was currently holding weakly.

The stranger's face hardened. "I can take care of myself, and I wouldn't let you anywhere near me."

The vehemence of the statement surprised Pike, he didn't understand what he had done to warrant such open aggression.

"Have I done something to you? I'm not with the people who arrested you, I don't even know what you did and frankly I don't care. I don't even have jurisdiction here so why are you treating me like the enemy?"

Chris thought all of his points were valid ones, however going by the scowl on the gunman's face he didn't.

"Don't lie to me. You represent the Federation, even if you just want to help at the moment there is no way you or your people would let me walk free. You have relations with my government, you wouldn't risk upsetting them like that."

The gunman was growing more impassioned as he listed his surprisingly long list of reasons why he was holding Pike at gunpoint. He nodded his head towards the handcuffs and moved his finger to rest on the trigger of his weapon.

"I am not going back to prison and I'm prepared to do almost anything to make sure I don't. So if you don't pick up those handcuffs and do what I say, I'm going to shoot you."

Chris held the gunman's gaze throughout his speech and he actually felt chills shoot down his spine when the threat was issued. He'd been on the receiving end of many empty threats over the years but this wasn't one of them. This man was a second away from shooting him.

"Okay." He agreed simply.

Pike reached down to pick up the handcuffs and gave into the demand without argument, he could tell when to stop pushing his luck and this was definitely the time. The phaser tracked his movements as he shifted painfully over to the handrail; the gunman didn't take pity on how much it hurt just for him to simply move these few metres.

Chris eventually made it to the wall and he slumped against it tiredly and breathing hard, he clutched his ribs and rode through a wave of misery. His vision swam dangerously and for one horrifying moment he thought he was going to pass out. Thankfully the black spots faded and the terrifying moment passed. He picked up the restraints and with some considerable effort snapped one end around his left wrist, looped it through the handrail and snapped the other end around his right wrist.

With that done he turned to look at the gunman who had been watching him like a hawk the entire time. Chris shook the handcuffs to demonstrate that they were in fact locked and rather stupidly made a bitter comment.

"Happy?"

The gunman's eyes flicked to his face and Pike held his breath, really he had to get better at choosing his moments. Mercifully the stranger just cracked a smile and he lowered the phaser to the floor, still within reach but for the moment not in play.

He shook his head in amusement. "Yeah I'm on top of the world, Starfleet."

Chris realised then that they didn't even know one another's names, which seemed ridiculous. He didn't want the gunman to call him Starfleet for the duration of his captivity, and making the gunman see him more like a person was rule 1 of negotiation.

"It's Chris." He offered.

The gunman appraised Pike anew, clear surprise sprawled over his face; surprise and uncertainty. He pondered the offer of information for a few moments and then finally decided to return the favour.

"Pablo."

For the first time since waking up Chris felt a spark of hope, he'd managed to finally start a conversation that hadn't ended in threats or shooting and he'd started a rapport. It was early days of course but this was the first good sign of the day and he clung to it.

Chris tipped his head and threw his companion a wry smile. "Nice to meet you Pablo."

Pablo surprised Pike again when he snorted and actually chuckled. Pablo's laughter lightened the atmosphere and gave Chris hope that there was still a diplomatic solution that could be reached, he just hoped he had enough time to find it before Pablo bled out.

* * *

Chris decided it was a good idea to leave Pablo in peace for a while, it would give him a chance to calm down and feel less threatened. The silence also gave Pike time to properly appraise just how much trouble he was in; judging by the state of the shuttle and the fact nobody was sending off a distress call, he would guess - a shit load of trouble.

His worry magnified when he noticed the shuttle's ripped out transponder near Pablo's feet; he assumed it was part of Pablo's plan to not get caught again which would definitely complicate matters. Pablo's vandalism would only buy him so much time, to do what exactly was still a mystery. Chris hoped that their disappearance had been noted by now and search and rescue should be able to find the wreckage eventually, even without the transponder working. It all depended on the severity of the storm outside and where exactly they had ended up.

Knowing that he couldn't effect the rescue team's response time handcuffed to a rail, he focused on things he could do. Such as work out if he was going to die from his injuries before they arrived, and if Pablo would die from his.

The jury was still out on the severity of his own injuries. He knew he had to have some nasty internal problems, but without a tricorder or supplies he had no idea if he was actually bleeding internally. On the surface at least he was in a hell of a lot of pain but he'd had worse, he was fairly certain that the various broken bones, cuts and bruises weren't life threatening. The cut on his head had already stopped bleeding and he didn't have any other major bleed outs to control. The slices through his chest and legs had already clotted and stilled, which was one minor miracle. When he had shifted his leg to get more comfortable he stifled a gasp; it felt like a hot knife had been plunged into his calf. Chris couldn't get a good look at the limb with his hands restrained as they were, but he was satisfied that he couldn't see blood which pointed to a broken or at least strained leg. Not pleasant but hardly a problem when he wasn't currently going anywhere.

What he did have to worry about was keeping his chest as still as possible, he didn't want his shattered ribs causing more damage, the other was simply staying awake. His head was still thudding nastily and he didn't feel too woozy leaning back against the shuttle wall, but he knew falling asleep was dangerous. With his head taking the bang that it did, there was every possibility that if he closed his eyes he wouldn't wake up again.

As for Pablo... Chris had spent the last 10 minutes studying his companion. Pablo had dragged himself around the shuttle, gathering supplies from what he could reach and making a mess behind him. Pike's eyes slid to the floor and he noted the amount of blood that Pablo had trailed behind him; his wound was still bleeding and Chris was stunned that the man could still move after losing all that blood.

When Pablo settled back down on the opposite side of the shuttle again, he started to pack a few supplies into a bag, albeit sluggishly. Chris could see that his companion was in agony, and he kept clutching his bleeding wounded side.

Pike felt like he had been quiet for long enough; he wanted to get out of this shuttle alive, and he wouldn't get that done by just sitting handcuffed to a rail feeling sorry for himself. He looked at the items that Pablo was packing and frowned when he noted water, emergency rations and a blanket being packed. Wait, surely he wasn't planning on leaving on foot in his condition?

Chris decided to broach the subject in a light manner. "Going somewhere?"

Pablo's eyes snapped upwards, his lip curled in amusement and he answered sarcastically. "No. I thought I'd stay here and get arrested again."

Pike didn't let the joke distract his concern. "You're not going to get far with your injury, you've lost a lot of blood and it's still bleeding."

Pablo waved him off with a hand and carried on packing. "It looks worse than it is."

Chris scoffed and raised his eyebrow, not believing that for a second. "It looks like you're bleeding out."

Pablo stopped mid-movement and shot Chris a weary glare, his hand hovered near the phaser which had so far remained out of play. "You should stop worrying about me and start worrying about yourself."

Pike clocked the veiled threat and he gulped heavily. Pablo was still far too defensive especially whenever Chris mentioned his injury, clearly a different tact was in order.

Chris laughed nervously and clanked the handcuffs against the rail. "I don't have much choice. Looks like I'm stuck here."

His submission reminded Pablo that he was restrained and stuck; thankfully it was enough for Pablo to withdraw his hand from the phaser. "Yeah you are."

Chris huffed and relaxed back against the wall as well as he could with his hands restrained awkwardly. His arms were becoming numb and he was in a constant battle between letting his wrists bare their weight or his shoulders. He glanced out through one of the viewports that hadn't smashed completely, but all he could see was green leaves which suggested they'd landed in the middle of a forest. It was another reminder that he had no idea where the hell he was, and surely neither could Pablo.

"Where are you gonna go? Do you even know where we've crashed?"

"Well enough." Pablo answered in a clipped tone, before furrowing his brow and squinting at Pike suspiciously. "Why are you so concerned?"

Chris allowed some of the vulnerability he felt to edge into his voice. "If you leave, I'm left here alone." It wasn't a pleasant thought, being left alone and surrounded by corpses chained up in a shuttle wreckage.

His vulnerability made Pablo pause. The former prisoner appraised him carefully and Chris noted Pablo's gaze flick to the handcuffs and Pike's uncomfortable position; his eyes glazed over as his attention swept across Chris' injuries. Pablo then averted his gaze and swallowed guiltily. "Rescue teams will come, your injuries didn't seem life threatening."

So Pablo had checked him over earlier, Chris realised he must have dragged him clear of the wreckage hence he had woken up in a clear space and not in what remained of the seating area. Even though Pablo said he'd checked him over that didn't abate his concern. It also didn't mean Pike wanted to wait for hours in pain and his condition could deteriorate at any moment.

Chris indicated to the transponder on the floor. "It's going to take them a while without the transponder, and I'm guessing you didn't send out a distress call."

"What do you think?" Pablo asked dryly.

"Yeah, I thought not." Chris replied then winced and gasped on purpose. He wanted to play up his injuries as much as possible to try to garner sympathy, the more guilty he could make Pablo feel about leaving him like this the better. For some reason Pablo was ignoring that they had just narrowly survived a horrendous crash; if Pablo wasn't going to admit that he was badly wounded, then Chris would have to do it for the both of them. "Honestly I'm not so sure my injuries aren't life-threatening, I've got way too many things loose inside and my head feels like it's splitting open."

Pablo paused again, his posture slumped and he grimaced guiltily. Chris thought he may have finally broken through and struck Pablo's compassionate side, sadly though it wasn't enough for him to risk his own capture.

Pablo dismissed Chris' self-assessment with a hand flick. "When I checked earlier you weren't bleeding heavily, and you've been pretty alert ever since. You'll be okay for a few hours." He still avoided eye contact showing that the guilt was still there and he quite possibly didn't believe his own words.

Chris latched onto the uncertainty and addressed the injury Pablo was stubbornly ignoring. "Will you?"

Pablo's eyes snapped to his and he appeared to do a double-take. "You don't quit do you?"

"Not usually." Chris smiled unabashed.

Pablo hummed and eventually cracked a genuine smile. "Stubborn. I kinda like that."

"Well at least there's something." Pike dead-panned.

Pablo barked a laugh which triggered a sharp pain in his chest, the former prisoner slumped forward clutching his side and cried out in pain. The smile fell off of Chris' face as he saw the misery his companion was in. He leaned away from the railing as far as his restraints allowed and tried to catch Pablo's eye. "Hey Pablo… You still with us?"

Pablo coughed and grunted until he managed to sit upright again, he brought his hands away from his side and blanched at the blood dripping from his fingers. Chris noted that this was the first time he had seen Pablo take the wound seriously, he looked genuinely scared and in a hell of a lot of pain. "I can't seem to stop the bleeding."

Chris pitied his companion, the wound looked gruesome and deep. "Have you had a look at it, properly?"

Pablo grew even paler and he managed to shake his head weakly. "It's not easy to see, there's too much blood."

Pike thought that now was a good time to remind Pablo of his first aid offer. "Why don't you let me help?"

Pablo scoffed and began shaking his head. "Let me see. Do you remember the whole not going back to prison thing?"

Chris sighed heavily and sank back against the wall, dejected that his offer and potential chance at freedom had been slapped away again. "Do I look like a prison guard?" Pike quipped.

"Don't mess me around Chris. First chance you get, you'd send off a distress call. Rescue teams means authorities which equals prison."

Pablo wasn't wrong, Chris would do that for both their sakes. In his opinion preserving life was far more important than possible prison sentences, he couldn't fathom why Pablo had so little regard for his own life. He also couldn't understand why the former prisoner was still so wary of Chris. He was handcuffed to a pole, half his insides were broken up and Pablo had a lethal weapon that he had already used to control Pike.

"You can keep me handcuffed and you've got a phaser, when am I going to get the chance to send off a distress call?" Pablo had all the power here, why did he keep forgetting that fact?

Pablo lifted a single eyebrow and cocked his head. "Yeah and with the state I'm in you could overpower me, grab the phaser and get that transponder refitted."

Pike's mouth snapped shut and he kept quiet; he knew there was little he could say at this point to negate that opinion. Pablo clearly didn't trust him, and Chris couldn't say for certain that he wouldn't take the opportunity to send a distress call if it arose. Especially if Pablo's condition deteriorated.

Pablo took his silence as an answer in itself, he tutted and shook his head. "That's what I thought. Thanks but no thanks Chris. I don't trust you with my freedom... I don't trust anyone with my freedom."

* * *

After Pablo turned down Pike's offer of help once more Chris backed off and tried to think of another way to get through to the former prisoner; the problem was he was far too stubborn and paranoid of outsiders. It didn't make for easy company. Pike was struggling not to let the blatant distrust get him down; it's not like he engineered this situation and the both of them had been forced into this mess by outside means. The whole getting restrained thing was just another negative side-effect.

Speaking of which; his arms were now well and truly numb and he kept getting cramp which he had to keep ignoring. His head was still pounding but he didn't feel anymore light-headed than earlier which was the only positive thing about his sorry predicament. To distract himself from his injuries and the pain from simply breathing, Chris watched Pablo move around the shuttle.

He noted his companion's movements slow over time and the trail of blood behind him grew with each moment. Eventually the pain from his side was too much for Pablo and he slumped back on the floor, staring up at the roof of the shuttle and screwing his expression up in agony.

Seeing another person in pain wasn't a pleasant feeling. Although Chris was pissed off that he had been shot at and handcuffed whilst injured; he couldn't ignore the compassion he felt. Chris winced when he caught a peek of Pablo's insides underneath the wound, he'd been skewered deeply and the damage inside looked incredibly painful.

Pike's eyes slid to the packed bag and he shook his head grimly. Pablo had so far insisted on continuing with his escape plan but any idiot could see that he wouldn't make it out the front door. Chris thought it was about time he tested that resolve. "I thought you were leaving."

Pablo groaned loudly and shifted his hands to press against the wound. "I am, I just need a minute." He didn't show any indication of preparing to get up, despite what his words suggested.

Chris clenched his jaw and his lips pressed together tightly, he was growing weary and annoyed of Pablo's continued efforts to avoid the seriousness of his situation. "You need a lot more than a minute Pablo. Your skin's whiter than ash and you've lost too much blood."

Pablo opened his eyes and shot Chris a weary glare. "You know when I said I liked stubborn, I've changed my mind." He groaned dramatically and moved a bloodied hand to his head. "You're giving me a headache."

"Pablo this is serious."

Pablo snapped to Chris and shouted. "Shut up! Please just shut up about it before I stun your ass." Pablo moaned when his outburst added to his misery, he slumped back and closed his eyes again sluggishly. "Just let me lay here and rest."

Chris didn't feel it was wise to mention that he doubted Pablo _could_ stun him, Pike was fairly certain that Pablo was too weak to move enough to get to the phaser which he'd left near his packed bag. Even so, if there was anything that could fuel somebody to move beyond their limits it was anger, so Chris didn't want to push Pablo to that extreme. "Okay we don't have to talk about it, but we both need to stay awake. We need to keep each other awake."

"How?"

Pike racked his brain for a topic and settled on something rather quickly; he wanted to know more about Pablo considering they were each other's company for the foreseeable future. "Tell me about yourself."

"Seriously?" Pablo mocked.

Chris shrugged, feigning disinterest. "Why not? Unless you've got anything better to do."

Pablo pondered the request and frowned. "There's not all that much to tell."

"So you just happened to be on the way to prison?" Chris shook his head in disbelief and scoffed. "Come on there's got to be a story there."

"It's not a pleasant story." Pablo's tone was grave and Pike didn't miss the grimace that flashed over his companion's face.

"With your categorical refusal to return to prison I didn't imagine it would be." Chris quipped, in an attempt to lighten the dark mood.

Pablo glanced over and raised his eyebrows. "Is that judgement I hear? You don't think I should be running."

"That's not what I said Pablo, but you know my position on this. I think your injuries are far too serious for you to risk moving."

Pablo rolled his eyes and almost went as far as to yawn. "Well I think it's worth the risk."

Chris clenched and unclenched his fists and swallowed down an angry rebuke. Pike wanted to curse and shout until he was blue in the face, or at least until Chris got the seriousness of this injury through Pablo's thick skull. He took a few breaths to relieve some of the tension he was feeling inside, as well as letting his limbs slump back as far as the handcuffs allowed. It really didn't help that he was physically trapped and each time his hands tugged against the handcuffs it only added to his anger.

After a few moments of calm breathing he fell back onto logic and reason; he managed to keep the annoyance he felt out of his tone. "Surely it's more important to be alive than to be free?" He didn't want to come across as condescending but there were only so many times you could flog a dead horse.

"I'm not dying." Pablo assured before his conviction died when he fell into a coughing fit. The former prisoner clutched his side and rode through the agony. Chris watched on silently; he went still and observed Pablo with concern. Pablo's coughing eventually subsided and he slumped back exhausted and spent, he tightened his fists and added determinedly. "I can't go back to prison. I won't face that again."

Pike's interest peaked at the new fact, if Pablo was a repeat offender then his reckless plans to escape made more sense. "What did you do?"

Pablo sighed wearily. Chris could see that he was toying with the idea of spilling his life to a stranger. After a few moments contemplating Pablo turned his head to Pike and started to open up. "I'm a freedom fighter, but my government has labelled me a terrorist."

Chris didn't miss the mocking part of that sentence, Pablo and his government clearly didn't agree on many things. He also didn't miss the connotations to both of those descriptions, the fact that terrorist was even being mentioned pointed to violence and death. It wasn't a pleasant realisation knowing that he was completely at Pablo's mercy. Pablo's familiarity with weapons and his willingness to shoot made more sense now that Chris knew the crime Pablo had committed, it also indicated that Pablo wasn't a peaceful activist.

"Do you use violence in your activism?"

Even though Chris tried to keep any accusation and pre-judgement out of his words he obviously failed spectacularly, as proved when Pablo frowned at him and went on to justify his choices, whilst also proving Chris' worst suspicions. "It's not black and white like that. I can see you don't approve but you don't understand, you haven't lived under oppression and lost what I have."

Chris took a moment to try and sympathise with Pablo. Even though it was difficult to accept Pablo's admission, he tried not to judge somebody's decisions if he didn't know all the circumstances and Pablo was right that he hadn't lived his life. Pike's ideals didn't always translate to others and their circumstances; no matter how far the universe had come Chris was reminded time and time again that it hadn't come far enough.

He dropped the bite from his tone and nodded. "You're right I don't know the circumstances, but I can't say I approve of the use of violence. Call me an idealist but I like to believe that everything can be solved without resorting to fighting."

His idealism went down about as well as predicted.

Pablo chuckled and shook his head disbelievingly. "Of course you're a diplomat, what are you: a counsellor or something?"

"Captain." Chris corrected with a wry smile; Una would have loved to hear that assessment.

Pablo's eyes widened and his gaze flicked up and down Pike's body like he wanted to find something to disprove the statement. His gaze landed on Chris' face and his forehead crinkled. "Really? Wow, I thought Captain's would be more…"

Chris cocked his head to the side, genuinely interested in Pablo's opinion of him. "More what?"

"Militaristic? Authoritarian?" Pablo retorted teasingly; his eyes lighting up with mischief.

Chris didn't rise to the goad and he answered in an equally dry tone. "You're a funny guy Pablo." He just about managed to keep the smile off his face. "And you shouldn't sneer at diplomacy. There haven't been many problems in my travels that couldn't be solved by talking."

"But there have been some problems where talking didn't work?"

Of course Pablo would jump on the fact that Chris didn't say _all_ problems.

"Some." Chris agreed reluctantly.

His mind flew to some of his more fucked up missions, such as Rigel VII, where he had seen friends and colleagues die and had been helpless to stop it. The handcuffs suddenly tightened around his wrists, and he had to stamp down on the panic the memories of the past brought on; it reminded him of how helpless he was now.

Pablo picked up on his discomfort. "You've seen combat, violence?"

Chris flicked his eyes up to catch Pablo's gaze. "I have."

Pablo nodded enthusiastically, desperate for Pike to see things his way. "So you understand? Sometimes violence is the only solution."

Pike swallowed hard and banished the flashbacks of his own nightmares to where they belonged; deep down in the depths of his mind. They weren't helping to keep him calm; especially not in his current situation.

"It's a last resort." He eventually admitted.

"It is, but that's where this fight has pushed me. We used to be peaceful, we used to hold demonstrations but nothing changed, no-one listened. We started to get more vocal, some demonstrations turned into riots. During one of the outbreaks they killed one of us… That's when everything changed." Pablo turned very quiet towards the end and his eyes glazed over.

Chris picked up on the subtle cues. "The person who died; someone close to you?"

Pablo snapped his gaze to Pike and blinked rapidly, surprised that he had been so transparent. "My brother." He swallowed thickly and his voice cracked with the admission.

Jeez that was rough, also it went a long way to explain Pablo's personality and his hatred for the 'other side'. "I'm sorry."

Pablo nodded his gratitude and blinked the tears out of his eyes. He sniffed and took a deep breath, glancing away to stare at the ceiling with a distant gaze. "It was a long time ago. It's safe to say that death sparked a far more violent war, they took one of ours away so we wanted to take one of theirs. It started a cycle which no-one could break."

"Things can always stop."

Pablo smiled sadly and shook his head. "I don't think so Chris... and now I'm responsible for a death. The building was supposed to be empty…"

And there it was; the reason behind Pablo's guilt and why he had been arrested. Pike would be lying if he said he wasn't shocked that Pablo had killed somebody, inadvertently or not. Unfortunately though that was always a possibility for a movement who used violence to fight back, no matter how well meaning their cause was.

"You can't plan for every possibility, violence will always lead to pain and suffering. It's why it doesn't work in the long run." History had shown that time and time again.

Pablo closed his eyes and groaned when a spasm caused his body to convulse. Chris eyed the growing pool of blood beneath his companion with concern; he couldn't last much longer without first aid, and Pablo was starting to realise that too. "I'm starting to think that nothing will work. Not that it matters now, I'll either die here or die trying to escape."

"You don't have to. My offer still stands, let me out of these and I can help." Chris shifted forward and rattled the handcuffs, shooting Pablo an imploring look.

Pablo took a few moments to control his breathing and the agony from his side, his face screwed up in pain as the gory wound sapped his energy minute by minute. When he eventually managed to open his eyes, Pablo glanced to Chris with a sad smile. "I don't think I deserve your help Chris. You're a good man, but I'm not."

Chris felt revitalised now the option of helping Pablo wasn't completely off the table. He wasn't denying his life-threatening injuries anymore and he wasn't trying to leave Chris alone in the shuttle. All Pike had to do was to convince his companion that life was worth living; and then maybe Pablo would let him out of these damn restraints and contact the rescue teams.

_Easy peasy._

"Everyone deserves second chances. Prison is where you pay your debts, it can be a path to redemption."

Pablo laughed sarcastically, and then coughed through his next words. "You haven't seen the prisons here have you? I'd die there. What's the difference between now and in a few years time?"

_So much for easy._ Chris should have guessed that Pablo's stubbornness would extend even to death. "Don't you have anybody you want to see again, to speak to? You don't have to die, not if you choose to live." Pike frankly didn't care how desperate he sounded; he didn't want Pablo to just give up, not when there was a chance for him to live.

Pablo had his eyes closed again and for a moment Pike thought he had actually passed out from blood loss, or the pain. Chris was about to start yelling to his companion when Pablo whispered a word, sounding far too weak for Pike's liking. "Zaya."

Chris strained his hearing and managed to make out a name. He latched onto Pablo's offering of intel, and felt hopeful that this could be the key to reigniting Pablo's will to survive. "Zaya? Someone you want to see again."

"My daughter."

"You have a daughter, that's someone to live for right there. Throw me the key and you can see her again, talk to her at least." Pike leaned forward desperately and watched as Pablo fumbled with his pocket. Chris noticed Pablo's limbs begin to sag and it appeared to be taking all of his energy just to move his fingers; Pike was getting seriously worried that the blood loss was finally becoming too much.

Whilst Pablo fumbled with his pocket he managed to string some words together, even if they did come out slurred and broken. "I was doing all of this for her... I wanted her to grow up in a better world."

Chris started to get more desperate to keep Pablo awake and moving, he strained madly against the rail holding him in place and cursed when the bar remained as sturdy as it always had. This was ridiculous and beyond frustrating; he was only a few metres away from a man bleeding out but he couldn't do anything about it. Chris didn't have the strength to just watch someone bleed out and die, not when he could do something about it.

"Pablo throw me the key. Don't let your daughter lose her father, come on!"

Pablo hacked violently until he coughed up blood. He still hadn't managed to hook the key out and this latest bout didn't help his efforts in the slightest. Pablo turned his head and stared at Pike; his face was pale, his lips bloodied and his eyes were drooping heavily. "It's too late Chris, I can't feel my legs."

Chris was not about to let Pablo just give up, not after everything they'd been through and not after they'd survived the shuttle crash. Legs or no legs Pablo was still breathing and Chris was sure if he could just get to the med kit he could help him. "It's not too late. Give me the key, I'll send off a distress call and stem the bleeding."

Pablo winced as Chris shouted at him. It took him considerable effort and a lot of pain, but Pablo finally hooked the handcuff keys around his fingers and shakily brought his hand up to his chest. Chris leaned away from the wall as far as he could manage and watched the keys like a hawk. When Pablo closed his eyes and his arm sagged mid-throw Chris restarted his yelling.

"The rescue teams will be here in no time, just throw me the key!"

Pablo's eyes shot open and he stared over at Chris, his eyes widened when he saw the distance between them and how it suddenly seemed like it was miles rather than a few metres. It might as well have been miles if Pablo couldn't throw the key, Chris was stuck against the wall and unless he grew the ability to rip dura-steel apart - he was going nowhere.

Pablo took a deep breath and put all of his effort and energy into throwing the key towards Chris; he cried out when the action pulled everything that been broken or speared during the crash. Chris watched the key fly and cursed when it ended up just half a metre from Pablo's outstretched arm.

Pablo tried to lift his arm again. He only got it a few centimetres off the ground before he groaned and the limb smacked back against the hard floor, splattering the pooling blood sickeningly. Chris saw that Pablo was giving up again; he stared at the key and tried to figure out how the hell he was supposed to reach it. He rattled the handcuffs again and pulled with all his might against the railing, but it stayed clamped to the wall. All Chris got for his troubles was a shooting pain through his chest that stole his breath; he panted until the agony receded and pleaded with Pablo to help.

"Pablo don't give up now, just get the key. Throw it a little further."

Pablo tried to curl his fingers but even that seemed too much. He coughed weakly and his body shuddered and spasmed as the blood loss took its toll. "I can't I'm sorry."

"Yes you can." Chris yelled back defiantly and wildly glanced around the space for anything which could help, really he was looking for a miracle.

Pablo had his eyes closed and his breathing turned into a wheezing rattle. "Please tell my daughter…"

Chris' eyes snapped up and he saw that Pablo had well and truly given up. Hearing about Zaya lit a fire within Pike and he vowed not to give up on Pablo's life, for the sake of the ones who would be left behind. He grabbed a hold of the hand rail and shimmied his body as far forwards as he could manage, stretching out with his less broken leg and biting back a cry of pain when the action shifted something within his chest.

Pike stretched his whole body out and kicked his foot forward, but it still wasn't enough to reach the key. His toe was tantalisingly less than a yard shy, being just short of the thing he needed made him lose his temper. Chris was furious with the situation, furious that Pablo had forced him into these damn handcuffs in the first place, and furious that Pablo was giving up when they were so close.

"You can tell her yourself, just push the key over." Chris ground out, whilst straining with all his might against the cuffs.

"Tell Zaya that I love her more than anything… and that I'm sorry…"

Oh Fuck, now he was saying goodbyes. Chris knew Pablo was fading but he wasn't willing to accept that fact, not when he could see him breathing before him. "Pablo, open your eyes! Come on you've got to help me here!"

Chris thrashed around madly, distantly realising that he had probably cut his wrists to shreds but he couldn't find the will to care about such minor things, not when he was watching somebody die. He looked up at the cuffs and confirmed that his wrists were bleeding, but for all that struggling he was still stuck and his legs weren't getting any longer. "These bloody handcuffs."

Pablo coughed weakly and his body began to grow still, the blood pooling underneath him had grown an alarming rate. "I'm sorry Chris... I hope they find you."

Pike continued to stretch his leg even though his brain was telling him that it was physically impossible for him to reach the key, he didn't care about the flaring pain racing up his side, or the agony in his leg, all he cared about was reaching the key. It was tunnel vision at its worst. "They're going to find both of us, alive. Just hang in there a little longer."

When Chris spied Pablo's face he saw there was a ghost of a smile there. "Chris… If we met in another life... I think we could have been friends..."

Chris let the frustration he was feeling lace his tone and he shouted at Pablo angrily. "Stop talking in the past tense, get up and throw me the damn key!"

Pablo ignored the instruction and he gasped one last time. "Sorry… Zaya…" Pablo's face slackened, his head lolled to the side and he took his last breath.

Chris balked at the sight and revitalised his efforts to get to Pablo. "Please don't close your eyes. Pablo… Pablo!" He vehemently ignored what his eyes were telling him and pleaded with his companion to stop his dramatics.

"Wake up… wake up dammit!" Even as Chris cried out he knew deep down that it was too late. Pablo's chest wasn't moving, and he could see Pablo's lifeless eyes staring back at him; the sight was going to haunt his dreams for months to come.

"Pablo…" The name was little more than a whimper from his lips; not that volume mattered. Nobody else was around to hear him, not anymore.

Chris was completely spent, emotionally and physically. He sagged against the wall slumping at an awkward angle, which made his limbs burn and his ribs ache but he didn't care. His eyes were fixed on the key which was just inches away from Pablo's outstretched hand.

Pike laid there, in a collapsed heap and felt tears begin to prick at the corners of his eyes. He watched morbidly as Pablo's blood crept forward, inching out across the grating until the crimson substance reached the key. Pike couldn't help but feel that the universe was playing a cruel joke on him; even Pablo's blood could get to the key but Chris never would.

* * *

Chris lost track of everything. It could have been hours since Pablo had passed away, it sure felt that way. Time lost all meaning and the linear flow appeared to stop entirely, even the pool of blood had stopped growing. The whole time that Chris laid there, still chained helplessly to the wall, he never once looked away from Pablo's corpse. He imagined Pablo's chest rising and falling more than once, his mind played tricks on him and Chris could have sworn he saw the dead man's eyes twitch but he knew it was an illusion. Zaya's father was very much dead.

He distantly felt the aches and pains reappear one by one; now his adrenaline had dissipated he felt his own crash injuries ten-fold. Pulling and stretching in his attempts to get to the dying man hadn't done his body any favours, in fact he now realised that doing something so stupid with internal injuries might very well be the end of him.

So now Chris sat alone in the cold, dark shuttle, waiting for death or rescue. He honestly didn't know which would come first. He had hoped it would be rescue but when Pablo had succumbed to his injuries it had sucked the hope out of the world. Chris was dealing with the crushing effect of watching someone die, alongside the battle of simply staying alive.

Pike felt vacant; his vision blurred, fine tremors ran through his body and he had trouble controlling his breathing. Chris knew the symptoms of shock and he was horrified to recognise that he was caught deep within its throes, and he didn't know how to get out. Not alone anyway.

He became aware of new sounds starting up around the shuttle; engines, shouts, a soft thud, vibrations, footsteps, clanging, banging and finally groaning metal.

"Chris?!"

Chris didn't turn to the new sounds, he kept his gaze firmly fixed on Pablo. He couldn't face looking away, it felt too much like leaving him alone on the floor.

"Chris! Are you in there?!"

The shout was accompanied by a series of bangs and heavy machinery, and Chris clocked light begin to filter into the wreckage. A distant part of his mind recognised the voice; that it belonged to his first officer Una and that he should probably let her know where he was.

He somehow managed to answer, albeit in a croaky voice. "In here."

There were further clangs, the sounds of talking and shouting and then suddenly Chris felt a presence approach him. Even though he wanted to look away from Pablo and the blood he just couldn't.

"Oh my god. Are you okay? What the hell happened?"

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a blur of gold and then wavy brunette hair. His eyes refused to focus on the person who was swimming in his field of view, the person who was roaming her hands over his bound hands, face and chest. Even without clear sight he knew it was Una; he would know her voice in his sleep.

Una's hands settled on the handcuffs and she gripped his hands tightly. "Chris talk to me."

The desperation in his first officer's plea reached whatever part of his brain that was still somewhat functioning. He couldn't manage much but he focused on the problem that was most important: his trapped hands.

"The key's on the floor."

Chris was still staring over Una's shoulder to the pool of blood on the floor, so whilst he didn't see her incredulous expression he did hear her curse and saw a blur of motion scurry over to retrieve the key.

Una returned and steered the key towards the handcuff lock, all the while throwing her vacant, far too pale Captain anxious looks. "Why on earth are you handcuffed? What in god's name happened?"

Another question he couldn't answer, not with how slowly his brain was working anyway. If he was in a better state of mind he would realise how strange this entire situation would look to Number One, but he wasn't so he mumbled what he could. He muttered the thing that had been repeating in his mind ever since it had happened.

"Pablo's dead."

Silence followed his declaration. Silence and then pain. He gasped and swore when feeling suddenly rushed back into his fingers, the cuffs were peeled off his bloody wrists leaving a dull throb behind. Una gripped his arms steadily and slowly brought them down, soothing his aches and rubbing some feeling back into his abused limbs. She then registered what Chris had just said and her anxious expression morphed into full-blown panic.

"Pablo? Chris you're really scaring me here." Chris gasped when her hand came up to probe his head wound. "Fuck, how hard did you hit your head?"

Pike yanked his head away from the touch, wanting to escape from the searing burn that radiated across his skull. He shifted his gaze from the blurry form of Una and stared wistfully at Pablo's face.

"I tried. He wouldn't listen." Chris muttered whilst biting back a groan when Number One tried to shift him up into a better position.

"You're not giving me enough words Chris…" She gently gripped his face and forced his head to look at her. "Hey, look at me."

Finally her soft tone broke through the haze, and cut through the deep shock he had been lost in for hours. Chris blinked rapidly until his first officer's worried expression faded into view.

"Una?" He whispered hopefully. He was only just realising that her arrival meant rescue and that he might not actually die in this God-forsaken place.

Una smiled for the first time since entering the shuttle and breathed out heavily in relief. "Yeah, it's me. You're gonna be okay alright, I'm going to get you out of here."

Chris nodded numbly and let Una push him back and prop him against the wall, gasping and clutching his ribs the whole way. The position helped to open his airway and his breathing soon evened out. Una reached into an emergency first-aid kit and pulled out an assortment of pads, hypo sprays and a tricorder. When she ducked down Chris caught a glance of Pablo, somebody had been by and closed his eyes.

"They're all dead."

Una's eyes flicked up to his face, her eyebrows knitted together in worry and her expression a picture of sorrow. She glanced over her shoulder to see where Pike was staring and sighed deeply.

"That's awful…" She swiftly started to apply gauze and pads to the worst of his cuts, and Chris felt the hiss of a hypo spray against his neck, hopefully delivering a cocktail of painkillers that would take the edge off his miserable predicament. "But I'm glad you're not."

Chris couldn't help but offer a morbid chuckle and he managed to stutter his dark inner thoughts. "Feel like it."

He avoided his first officer's eye contact, knowing she would only be looking at him disapprovingly. When he did catch her eye he didn't see the annoyance he thought he would, instead her forehead was creased and her eyes were shining with pity.

Una managed a sad smile, and after glancing back towards the exit she took a firm hold under his arms. "Come on let's get you out of here. Can you walk?"

Chris honestly didn't think he could walk; his legs felt like jelly and all his limbs were refusing to respond, but Una wouldn't be asking him to if there want a good reason. The shuttle was likely unstable and what with the storm still raging outside; that fact made transporting impossible.

"God kno-"

His declaration was cut short and replaced by a loud moan of misery, when Una tried to haul him upwards and he cried out when his ribs shifted in his chest.

Number One peered into his face sympathetically and gave him a few moments to catch his breath, Chris clutched his throbbing mid-section and fought with the nauseating feeling moving had brought on.

Una looped his arm around her shoulder and helped lever him upright fully. "Come on, lean on me. There's medics outside."

Chris bit his tongue to stop the cry of pain threatening to escape his throat, he blinked away the vertigo and managed a response even if it was said through gritted teeth. "Okay."

He leaned heavily on Una, finding he needed the crutch and her support more than he had realised. If she wasn't holding him up his legs would have buckled on the first step, he was pretty sure one of them was actually broken. It had swelled to twice the size and agony jolted up the limb all the way to his spine with each tiny step.

After just a metre of stumbling and dragging Chris was breathing hard, sweat was plastering his hair to his forehead and he was completely pale and clammy. Pike felt Una's all-seeing gaze on him.

She tutted and shook her head aggressively. "Fuck, you look like shit Chris."

Chris managed a half-smile, feeling somewhat delirious now that the effects of the painkillers were starting to take hold and turn his faculties to mush. "You say the sweetest things." He quipped back.

Una brushed aside his levity and dragged them out of the shuttle, where the biting wind cut into their skin and the storm raged all around them. "Seriously, I haven't seen you this beat up in a while. And what the hell were you doing handcuffed to a pole?"

Chris was having even more trouble staying upright, now he was being buffeted around by the storm as well as his own balance. He couldn't see much of anything outside, it was dark and visibility was next to zero. Someone suddenly gripped his other arm and hauled it around their shoulder, speeding up the process of moving him to the next shuttle but also causing his ribs to protest again.

Pike concentrated on not passing out and he closed his eyes as the two people lifted him towards the waiting shuttle. He was in so much pain that he even felt throbbing in his toes.

He knew his situation in the shuttle must have looked strange but frankly he didn't have the willpower to concentrate on that now, not when all he wanted to do was curl up into a ball and give into the darkness. "Later Una, please."

Una scoffed but relented with a sigh. He must seriously look like shit if she was letting him off the hook this easily. "Okay it can wait until later, but you're going to tell me everything okay?"

Chris had his eyes closed so he didn't catch her expression but he nodded his acceptance all the same. "Later..." He slurred, finding it more and more difficult to keep his limbs moving forward.

Una and her anonymous helper got him up the ramp and Chris soon found himself being manoeuvred onto a bed, medics immediately swarmed around him and started to deal with his most serious wounds.

Pike heard various mechanical beeps, his clothes were cut away and a bundle of equipment was attached all over his body. He sank back into the bed and felt a hand gently stroke his hair.

"Yeah Chris later… You rest now, we'll take good care of you." Una's voice was right next to his ear. It was soft, gentle and he trusted her instructions without question.

Chris finally gave into the ebbing darkness. The last thing he heard before a hypo spray pressed against his neck, was Una muttering a curse that brought a smile to his lips.

"Boyce is going to be so pissed..."

* * *

"Ahh." Chris groaned, screwing up his face in pain and hissing through gritted teeth.

A strong grip took a hold of his arms and held him upright until he was steady. "Easy Chris, Boyce has only just released you to quarters. If he sees you like this you'll be back in his clutches in no time."

Chris leaned heavily on his crutches and allowed Una to keep him from falling. He cracked an eye open and sought her smirking face, replying in kind with a scowl of his own. "What Boyce doesn't know won't hurt him."

Una barked a laugh and shook her head. "Boyce finds out everything." She prodded his chest with a perfectly manicured finger. "I thought you knew that by now."

Chris sighed wearily and readjusted his grip on his crutches. "Yeah I know."

Pike knew he could be stubborn but even he had to admit that his body was still healing, really this was too soon to be moving around but he had something he needed to do. Pike's eyes drifted to his desk and terminal which seemed miles away; all he had to do was get there so why did the prospect seem so difficult?

Una followed his gaze and she smiled sadly. "Come on let's get you sat down before you fall on your face."

Chris snorted in amusement but kept his witty responses to himself, he was having trouble concentrating as it was and he didn't want to fall and prove Una right. He focused on keeping the misery under control, whilst Number One helped him half hobble/half stumble over to his desk.

The shuttle crash had been three whole days ago. When Una had come to the rescue he'd managed to stay conscious all the way up until the second shuttle took off. After that the only memories he had were flashes of being transferred, lots of medics and treatment and then finally Enterprise and sick-bay. Chris had never been so happy to see Boyce's face, he'd honestly started to lose hope of seeing anything ever again.

The medical team stitched him together one bit at a time, starting with his internal injuries and spending a lot of time on the complex fracture in his leg. Pike lost count of the amount of times Boyce sedated him for surgeries. Each time he woke up something new was in plaster or bandaged heavily; the scars began to fade away and his skin regained its usual colour piece by piece.

After three days of surgeries, bed rest and a hell of a lot of painkillers Chris had finally been released to his quarters. He was still off duty, and he was essentially bed ridden, but it was nice to be in familiar surroundings and have some privacy. Another of his release conditions was Una; she was to supervise him whilst Boyce couldn't. As setups went Chris preferred it much more than being in the bustling environment that was sickbay.

Chris grunted and cursed as Una eased him down into his desk seat, all of his muscles and joints felt stiff and unwieldy. Moving caused sharp pains to scorch a path through his chest, his leg was becoming a pain in the ass but he was in one piece which he had to be thankful for.

When the misery faded into a dull throbbing Una helped prop his broken leg up on a chair out of view of the terminal. She straightened his tunic and hair, Chris noticed her hand linger on his face and he smiled gratefully at her. What would he do without his XO?

She passed him a data pad and indicated to his terminal. "I got the contact number you asked for. Your terminal's all set up."

Chris glanced at the offered data pad and saw the name and number staring out at him boldly. He gulped anxiously and felt the familiar pit of sorrow open within him. "Have they been informed?"

Even though Pike was still looking at the data pad he could feel Una's concerned stare burning a whole in the back of his neck.

"A few days ago." She morbidly replied.

Chris was scrolling through the file, his finger stooped moving when he read the list of remaining dependents and a familiar name stood out.

"Right." he managed shakily.

He took a deep breath, clenched and unclenched his fists and tried to stamp down on the overwhelming emotions it brought on. He felt guilty, why did he feel so guilty?

Una of course picked up on his wobble, she stroked his arm soothingly and offered her support just like she always did. "Do you want me to stay?"

Chris gripped her hand and stilled her movements; he finally glanced up from the data pad and smiled sadly at his first officer. "No, I'll be okay."

"Sure?"

Chris took a deep calming breath and got a hold of himself, he nodded reassuringly. "Yeah, I've got to do this."

Una squinted at him suspiciously. Chris held her gaze until she saw his unwavering resolve and relented. "Okay. I'll head down to the diner, and get us some real food for when you're done."

"Thanks Una."

Number One let go of his arm and started to back out of his quarters. She held up a hand and scolded him one last time, her eyebrow raised in amusement. "Don't try and walk on your own until I get back. Boyce will kill me if he hears I left you unsupervised."

Chris held his hand up and over his heart, answering with a bashful grin. "Scout's honour."

A smile tugged at Una's lips. "Good luck." She bid him goodbye and left him alone in the darkened room.

Pike turned back to the terminal and glanced down at the contact number he needed to enter, he noticed his hand begin to shake and he stamped down on the anxious reaction furiously. Before he chickened out again he typed the number into the terminal and waited for the call to connect. He straightened in his seat subconsciously and smoothed out a ruffle in his jacket.

When he glanced back at the screen he got another jolt of nervous energy when the connection solidified, and soon a little girl appeared on screen. Chris was immediately drawn to the little girl's eyes and he blinked in shock, Zaya definitely had her father's eyes.

The girl tilted her head to the side inquisitively. "Hello?"

Pike shook off his initial surprise of the similarities; he plastered on a friendly smile. "Hi, are you Zaya?"

Zaya nodded, her big brown eyes shining with curiosity.

"Hi Zaya, my name's Chris. I'm a friend of your dad's."

Chris felt an overwhelming melancholy fall over him; he was doing what Pablo would never be able to do again, talk with his daughter. The only way Pike could live with that fact was by relaying her father's final words.

Zaya's eyebrows furrowed and her lip quivered slightly. "Mummy said daddy isn't coming home."

"No he's not, I'm sorry." That hit Chris harder than the shuttle crash had. He knocked off the blow and focussed on keeping his promise to Pablo. "He wanted me to tell you that he loves you more than anything, and he's sorry he couldn't come… He tried his best to come home to you."

_Finis_


End file.
